Jaeger-LeCoultre Deep Sea Chronograph Automatic (Ref. Q2068570)

It is a great pleasure for me to announce that JLC will soon expand their line of vintage-styled divers with the new Jaeger-LeCoultre Deep Sea Chronograph (Ref. Q2068570) automatic diving watch. Just like the elegant Deep Sea Vintage model that was officially presented early this year, the new model, too, features a chronograph function. However, this one is presented with a twist.

The twist in question is, of course, the “on/off” indicator on the timekeeper’s gorgeous sand-blasted dial. Placed right below the famous JLC logo at 12 o’clock, the gauge tactfully informs you whether the chronograph is idle, is it counting time or is it on hold (pictured.)

The indicator came here directly from their good old Jaeger-LeCoultre Chronoflight professional dashboard chronograph that was installed on many pre-WWII airplanes and allowed to easily track the elapsed flight time adjusted for the time spent on land for refilling or passengers on- or offloading.

Frankly, I am a little ambivalent with regards to this function on this particular timekeeper.

On one hand, it seems absolutely superfluous for a diving watch: its traditional unidirectional rotating bezel is more than enough for routine time measuring. On the other, there is a good chance that 95 percent of these beautiful timekeepers will never be subjected to salty water and abrasive beach sand and may well be used by amateur pilots who will find the function quite useful. It is the matter of personal preferences, as usual.

According to the Swiss brand’s press release, the new Deep Sea Chronograph is powered by their new JLC Caliber 758 automatic movement. Comprising 340 parts and offering more than 65 hours of power reserve, the movement is still quite thin at just 6.80 millimeters allowing for a relatively slender body of the watch.

Unlike the aforementioned Deep Sea Vintage, the ref. Q2068570 model features different color scheme with the beige lume replaced with a less appealing, but a lot more contrast white Superluminova: a nice feature for a diver, which is rated for 100 meters of water resistance and is fully compliant with ISO 6425 standard.

With its diameter of 42 millimeters, the watch also grew around 1.5 millimeters larger, which makes it somehow less appealing to those who adore vintage and vintage-inspired timekeepers. However, if you are neither a purist nor a watch snob, the size may be just good enough for an everyday timepiece.